,Jason works very often in Chicago. We took advantage of one of those weeks he was there and turned it into an extended stay for our entire family. His office is in Alsip, Illinois, so that is where we would make our home base for 4 days. Using both our vehicle and the train system to tour around the city, gave us more opportunities to see as much as we could in a short period of time. Driving very early from our home in Ontario, across the border through Detroit and quickly we were on I-94 to Chicago. I had visited Chicago with my family when I was young, but this would be the first chance for the kids, and give Jason an opportunity to play tourist in the city he often visited for business but not pleasure. Our first stop on our travels would be for a late breakfast. That stop came in Jackson, MI at one of our kids favourite stops. http://www.crackerbarrel.com/ Cracker Barrel for breakfast, pancakes and chocolate milk usually. After those big plate fulls we were ready to continue our journey across "the mitten", skimming past the bottom of Lake Michigan, swiftly through Indiana, and arriving in Illinois. We arrived in the Chicago area in early afternoon and headed straight for our first destination. As always a favourite thing on our kids lists of things to do....we're going to the ZOO!!!!! Brookfield Zoo to be exact. http://www.czs.org/Brookfield-ZOO/Home.aspx Our kids have always loved zoo's and animals ever since they were little babies. Ethan is still drawn straight to the Polar Bears after all these years, and Em and I love the giraffe's. There is just something special about them. We really enjoyed Brookfield. It wasn't too big, but very walk able, with lots to see. And on this very hot Chicago summer day, being outside enjoying the day was a great way to start our adventure in a new city. When we were finished at the zoo we headed to our hotel that would be our base for the next few days. It was a hotel that Jason stays at often for work. Because of his loyalty status they offered us an amazing free upgrade to a suite for the length of our stay. Giving us a bit more room and comfort. http://doubletree3.hilton.com/en/hotels/illinois/doubletree-by-hilton-hotel-chicago-alsip-CHIASDT/index.html The Doubletree in Alsip, had a fridge and microwave, so we headed over to a grocery store and picked up anything we would need for snacks and our breakfasts. So that would help us save some money for our lunches and dinners we would treat ourselves to during our stay. The Doubletree offered one other great advantage for us. A free shuttle over to Midway Airport, and the train lines that would take us directly into the city. We rode the orange line train from Midway to downtown Chicago, where we walked a few blocks up Michigan Avenue and down the stairs to the river. At the river we caught a water taxi that would take us out the river and out onto Lake Michigan. At Lake Michigan we past by the Navy Pier giving us great view of Downtown Chicago from the water. Our destination by Water Taxi was the Aquarium. But the funniest thing happened while on board. Our water taxi Captain was the exact same man who had driven our Dolphin Tour Boat in Fort Myers Florida just a few months earlier. Thanks Captain Jay Holloway for giving us two great boat trips now. One of the first tips I can give you for Chicago is to purchase a City Pass. When we arrived at the Aquarium on a very hot August day there was an hour long wait to get inside the Aquarium. But because we had our city pass we got to bypass that line and basically walk right in. Completely worth the money just to get out of the heat, but also because we saved money at other locations throughout the city too. http://www.citypass.com/chicago Inside the aquarium was very busy, but we still had a really great time exploring the different exhibits and discovering new creatures. After the Aquarium we were hungry. Now we had heard about a few different things we needed to try while we were in the city. Chicago Style Hot dogs from a cart was one of them. And we just happened to be right where those food carts were lined up, feeding all those tourists waiting to get inside the aquarium. DELICIOUS!!!!! Our next idea for the day was to head to the top of the sky, and to get a great view and layout of the city. So an elevator ride up the John Hancock Building was a great idea. http://www.360chicago.com/ Getting a 360 degree look at Chicago. Since we were downtown on the Magnificent Mile, we took the kids to a couple of their favourite places to shop. The kids are always given an allowance for our vacations. Once it is spent, it's spent. It makes them much more conscious about how they spend their money. But in this case Emmy knew that it would be a long time before she was back at American Girl again, so she bought her doll a new outfit. And in Ethan's case, he knew he could buy Lego at home so held on tightly to his money. Both of our kids are not big spenders, but on holidays its nice to get a treat. All that shopping and walking and excitement ..we needed a snack. So this place seemed like a good place to get a treat. The kids had never eaten cheesecake, and we all chose different flavours. Chocolate Oreo, Pumpkin, and Vanilla Bean. On our third day in Chicago we took another train ride back downtown, and we stopped to visit another one of the famous landmarks. The Cloud Gate , also known as the Bean. http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/dca/supp_info/millennium_park_-artarchitecture.html We used the City Pass again at the Museum of Science and Industry. http://www.msichicago.org/ Our favourite exhibits there wer about mining, and life. Especially the exhibit where we watched baby chicks hatching. We stood there for an hour likely, we just couldn't get enough. We spent a big portion of our day walking around downtown and at the Museum, so we headed back on the train to Alsip. Jason's colleague from work and his wife had arrived tonight so we met them back at the hotel so we could all head out to dinner tonight. This was the evening we decided to try the other famous Chicago Dish. Deep Dish Pizza. We ate at http://giordanos.com/ Here's our PIZZA! Thick and delicious almost like lasagna on a crust. Ethan normally eats a few pieces, but that night one filled him up. The next day Jason and his colleague had to head into the office, so the kids and I decided to do some different exploring today. Swimming at the hotel and some shopping at the local mall for some back to school supplies was a good way to relax a little bit on this holiday. But the following day while Jason was at work we decided to head south a bit to the city of Joliet , Illinois and where Route 66 starts its trek across America. In Joliet we found a museum celebrating Route 66, and the years gone by. The museum handed out scavenger hunt sheets for the kids which was fantastic. It was a way for them to really examine the exhibits and learn information along the way. https://www.jolietmuseum.org/ When we got back to the Doubletree we started to pack up for our late check out.
Once Jason was done at the office we were back in the car and headed home to Amherstburg. A fun family weekend away. See you again sometime Chicago.
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